1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an apparatus and method for making labels and for performing a plurality of half cuttings on a sheet before performing a full cutting, using one cutter.
2. Description of the Related Art
Label making apparatuses for processing a laminated tack sheet of an adhesive sheet and a releasable sheet are known. In such a label making apparatus, a rolled sheet unit that supports the sheet wound around a core is detachably attachable. The label making apparatus includes a transport roller for pulling out the sheet from the rolled sheet unit and transporting the sheet and a cutting mechanism that cuts the sheet transported by the transport roller.
The cutting mechanism generally includes a cutter that cuts the sheet, and a carriage that reciprocates the cutter in a direction substantially perpendicular to a sheet transport direction (a width direction of the sheet). Therefore, by normal and reverse rotation of the transport roller and the reciprocation of the carriage in the width direction of the sheet, the cutter can be placed at any position on the sheet and cut the sheet into a predetermined shape.
There is a label making apparatus capable of cutting the sheet in two different manners. One manner is a half cutting in which the sheet is cut partway in a direction of a thickness of the sheet, for example, only the adhesive sheet or the releasable sheet of the sheet is cut. Another manner is a full cutting in which the sheet is completely cut in the direction of the thickness of the sheet. Further, there is a label making apparatus provided with two cutters in which one cutter is for the half cutting and the other cutter is for the full cutting. Furthermore, a label making apparatus that can perform both the half cutting and the full cutting using one cutter exists, as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 2-14952.
However, the currently known label making apparatus that can perform both the half cutting and full cutting on a sheet using one cutter cannot perform a plurality of half cuttings on the sheet before performing the full cutting. Therefore, a plurality of labels made using such a label making apparatus are separated into pieces by a full cutting. Because of this, it becomes extremely inconvenient to handle these labels when printed contents of the labels are related to each other, such as when the labels are serially numbered.
On the other hand, in the label making apparatuses provided with two cutters in which one cutter is for half cutting and the other cutter is for full cutting, there is a label making apparatus that can perform a plurality of half cuttings before performing a full cutting on a sheet. However, in this case, the label making apparatus has two cutters, so that a structure of the apparatus becomes complicated. Further, the full cutting and the half cutting are performed at a different position, so that, for example, the sheet needs to be stopped at an appropriate position when any cutting is performed. Accordingly, a control of the apparatus also becomes complicated.
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 2-14952 discloses a label making apparatus that can perform both the half cutting and the full cutting using one cutter. However, the label making apparatus is provided with an electric drive, such as a solenoid, in a cutting unit to adjust a vertical position of the cutter. Therefore, the structure of the label making apparatus is complicated.
A simple structure label making apparatus having one cutter that can make a plurality of labels which are easy to handle has not known yet been developed.